PHOENIX β A new ruling Wednesday by a federal appeals court will not affect the rights of Arizonans to carry concealed firearms.
And that's not just because a majority of state lawmakers here support that right.
California law allows each county sheriff to determine if someone has "good cause" to have a concealed weapon. The lawsuit decided by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ability of individual sheriffs to make that determination.
And the majority concluded there is no absolute Second Amendment right to carry a concealed firearm outside someone's home.
Arizona law is significantly different.
Concealed carry, first authorized in Arizona in 1994, requires only a permit issued by the state Department of Public Safety. Applicants have to undergo a background check and show proof of certain training.
More to the point, individual sheriffs in Arizona have no authority to authorize or veto a CCW permit. But even if they did, it would not matter.
In 2010, then-Gov. Jan Brewer signed legislation allowing anyone to carry a concealed firearm, with or without a permit.
"I believe this legislation not only protects the Second Amendment rights of Arizona citizens, but restores those rights as well,'' she wrote in signing the measure.
Permits are still available to those who want. The main advantage of such a permit is the ability to have a concealed weapon in other states that have reciprocity agreements with Arizona.
